The first-ever Epukiro auction held in the Omaheke Region attracted more than 800 cattle, Epukiro Constituency Councillor Packy Pakarae revealed on Thursday at the official opening of the auction at Omauezonjanda.

Pakarae indicated that the new initiative between the Eastern Epukiro Farmers Association and Karoo-Ochse is very important and will assist communal farmers in his constituency, as many of his constituents rely on livestock.
'We are facilitating for the livestock to get better prices; this will always affect the living standards of the people as well as improve their economic condition,' he said.

“It has taken some time with negotiations between the Eastern Epukiro Farmers’ Association under the auspices of the Epukiro Constituency Office and Karoo-Ochse, which is a private auctioneer of livestock, especially in the Omaheke Region, to come to an agreement of auctions, Karoo-Ochse being the buyer facilitating this,” he said.

“This is not only them coming to buy; they have also donated a scale worth over N$200,000; thus, this is a win-win relationship that we have entered into,” Pakarae said.

The constituency councillor appealed to farmers in Epukiro and its surroundings to try to maintain a certain number of livestock at auctions to ensure that they keep on qualifying for more livestock auctions in the constituency.

Pakarae noted that the minimum number to qualify is 400 livestock and urged farmers to bring quality livestock to auction amid the drought in the constituency.

Gerson Kunomundu Katjirua, a commercial farmer and a senior traditional councillor of the Ovambanderu Traditional Authority, applauded the farmers’ association and Karoo-Ochse for bringing this initiative to the Epukiro farmers, something he said they had fought for over many years.

Katjirua said it is not an easy task to host an auction in Epukiro because there were challenges in doing this in the past.

Karoo-Ochse representative David van Niekerk said they foresee a long relationship, which they will maintain. He further acknowledged the Epukiro farmers for giving them a chance to work with them.